Loudspeakers

Brace Yourself
All-alloy cabinets have long been a hallmark of Magico’s loudspeakers, whether in the form of an extruded section, like the original S3, or the machined castings used for the enclosure walls of the S3 2023. Five thick aluminium horizontal plates divide up the internal volume here, as well as bracing and damping the enclosure, but this speaker’s choice of materials isn’t solely about weight and stiffness. Rather than ‘bracing the hell out of it’, quipped Magico CEO Alon Wolf, 'we now brace it right'. During my call with him during our review, he explained that 'our new 3D laser interferometry system enabled a very efficient analysis of the cabinet surfaces. We could see where the vibrations – the main panel modes – were occurring, and this informed the placement and forces applied by our bracing, and position of our constrained-layer damping'.
A skeletal alloy frame is bolted to the inside of the cabinet panels, pulling them together and applying a specific tension at intervals. As a rule, resonances are unavoidable but this pushes them higher in frequency, and Q, making them easier to damp. This is achieved using BH5 (Black Hole 5) damping sheets – a laminate of vinyl, elastomer and foam layers – applied to all exposed surfaces on the inside of the walls. In addition, an alloy/elastomer constrained layer (known as EAR), ‘tuned’ to specific frequency bands, is applied between the drivers on the rear of the baffle. The mix of these techniques is calibrated to selectively ‘suffocate’ unwanted noise emanating from these huge panels. The laser interferometry provides a window onto the vibration, and provides proof of concept, enabling Magico to claim its new S3 enclosure is ‘30% quieter’ than its predecessor.